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Old 05-14-2018, 10:28 PM   #31
fast4522
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I would bet my bottom dollar that 99% of today's youngsters don't even know who Ayn Rand was.
Ah the "The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me." Lady.
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Old 05-14-2018, 10:43 PM   #32
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IMO...our kids today are more "stressed" because they are more disillusioned than we were at their age, about how hard life really is. We held part-time jobs during high school, because school loans were hard to come by...whereas our kids today have been spoiled by our preoccupation with not letting them do without the "youth lifestyle" that the media tells them they are entitled to.

Our kids today come out of college thinking that they've accomplished a great deal...without fully realizing that their struggle at this point of life is still at its beginning.
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Old 05-15-2018, 01:18 AM   #33
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You would would have died from a heart attack if you had ever tried to keep up with me at work.

Or died from bitching and whining about the hours, the travel, having to show respect to customers even when they were wrong.

You would have commited suicide, boy.
I would have taken your rounds for a vacation day.
But probably gotten bored about, oh, an hour into it.

Besides, in my line of work, we had to wear big boy pants.
Ten posts today during working hours. Tell me again how hard you work.
The hours? Try coming to work at midnight on a Monday; then Tuesday off but as like as not you were called in anyway at any time between Midnight and 9 AM. Then on Wednesday and Thursday you start anytime between 2 AM and 6 AM and it is different every week. Same with Friday. And on Friday evening you can never go out because once again you are starting at midnight and you are too tired to go out Saturday evening.

When I was a window clerk I had regular hours but I had to take a two hour lunch which meant that with travel time, I was away from home 11 1/2 hours every day. And I worked six to ten hours of overtime almost every week I was at the post office.

You would not have lasted two days as a letter carrier.

I do agree that you wear big boy pants. Very big boy.
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Old 05-15-2018, 03:08 AM   #34
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Wow! He made fat joke.......Such wit!
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Old 05-15-2018, 10:03 AM   #35
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By most measures of the financial "experts", yes. But I don't believe a collapse of the dollar, bank holidays, or government confiscation of retirement accounts won't be distinct possibilities in the future.

Unlike Just Ralph, who may very well represent the average demographic at PA, I think Boomers are vastly underestimating the growing groundswell of contempt for their elders, motivated mostly by a lack of opportunity. The success Bernie Sanders had in his campaign, IMHO, was unthinkable 30 years ago. But that happens when the middle class has been eroded over the last 40 years, in spite of what the government tells you. The reality is many have degrees that are useless, six figures of student loan debt, and they live in their parent's basement while waiting tables three days a week.

Many of us who are older were able to grow up with far less propaganda, good work ethics, and elders who experienced the Great Depression, and knew what a tough row to hoe life can be. We were able to get college degrees with little or no debt, and get decent paying jobs with little effort as the computer industry and other technologies took off. Today, the youngsters are exposed to a constant inundation of consume, consume, consume, and a moral base built on the writings of Ayn Rand. We're living in an age, as Jim Kuntsler describes, "where everything goes and nothing matters", as democracy and free-markets have been replaced by kleptocracy and crony capitalism.

The signs of decline are all around, if you care to open your eyes.
I fail to see what any of this has to do with people being scammed out of their pensions.

Whenever I meet hardliners on any particularly important social topic it always comes down to this:

If the person has no problem, they'd vote for "solution: no."

If the person faces the problem, they'd vote for "solution: yes."

While that isn't especially surprising, it speaks to self-centered answers as opposed to answers that address what is really right.

As an example, consider our lawmakers. Very few are of modest means. Why would we expect that they could identify with people who experience the issues?

Doesn't matter whether they are liberal or conservative. In the end, most turn out to vote for what is best for them rather than what is right for the country.
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Old 05-15-2018, 10:26 AM   #36
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Ten posts today during working hours. Tell me again how hard you work.
The hours? Try coming to work at midnight on a Monday; then Tuesday off but as like as not you were called in anyway at any time between Midnight and 9 AM. Then on Wednesday and Thursday you start anytime between 2 AM and 6 AM and it is different every week. Same with Friday. And on Friday evening you can never go out because once again you are starting at midnight and you are too tired to go out Saturday evening.

When I was a window clerk I had regular hours but I had to take a two hour lunch which meant that with travel time, I was away from home 11 1/2 hours every day. And I worked six to ten hours of overtime almost every week I was at the post office.

You would not have lasted two days as a letter carrier.

I do agree that you wear big boy pants. Very big boy.
Is there any end to your nonsense? You are now trying to claim working as a mailman is a challenging job that is beyond the abilities and dedication of the average person? WTF? I don't think half the lazy dimwits that work in the post offices around me would last two days at McDonald's.
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Old 05-15-2018, 01:57 PM   #37
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If you don't have a pension then you are stupid. If you opposed unions which fought for pensions and minimum wage then you are stupid. If you supported politicians who destroyed unions and cut taxes to the point that pensions were not sustainable then you are stupid.

If you did not do these things then you are not stupid. Oh, nevermind.
Friendly reminder. You aren't supposed to call people names...even on off-topic.

I know I've let you call people names A LOT and not said anything...because you have caught names being thrown at you...but this is really out of line.

I know you're still butt-hurt over Trump being President and all, and think you have carte blanche to go hog wild on anyone who espouses a conservative bent on here, but really dude...mellow out a bit.
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Old 05-15-2018, 03:33 PM   #38
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You would not have lasted two days as a letter carrier.
I wouldn't have HAD to.
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Old 05-16-2018, 09:49 PM   #39
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I fail to see what any of this has to do with people being scammed out of their pensions.

Whenever I meet hardliners on any particularly important social topic it always comes down to this:

If the person has no problem, they'd vote for "solution: no."

If the person faces the problem, they'd vote for "solution: yes."

While that isn't especially surprising, it speaks to self-centered answers as opposed to answers that address what is really right.

As an example, consider our lawmakers. Very few are of modest means. Why would we expect that they could identify with people who experience the issues?

Doesn't matter whether they are liberal or conservative. In the end, most turn out to vote for what is best for them rather than what is right for the country.
I hope you don't think I'm a hardliner. I'm being realistic, while the hardliners, IMHO, are the ones insisting that business as usual must continue.

The point I am trying to make, and apparently not very clearly, is that the pension system is a predicament, and not a problem. The numbers don't add up in the bigger picture, and there is NO workable solution. Some wealth will be redistributed (stolen again), some will be wiped out, and benefits will be lost. You describe it as people being "scammed" out of their pension, while a typical millennial might describe it as "it's stolen money anyway, from me and my future, so they deserve to be stiffed."

A pension "earned" at the expense of someone's future is not really a pension. A pension earned is when money is set aside, the principal never touched, and interest potentially added in if the investment is good. That's not what's described as a pension these days, especially for public servants.

I'd agree that it doesn't matter from a political perspective, but I'd disagree that voting is a factor. The oligarchs long ago hijacked the system, and their methods of keeping the masses polarized over irrelevant issues is quite effective. I'd also disagree about the effectiveness of any solution, no matter who voted for it, as the rule of law is more a nice concept than a reality any longer.

So when it comes to "scamming people" out of their pensions, it's important to determine who's winning and who's losing, and consider "fairness" as rather insignificant. IMHO, it's a much clearer picture to look at in terms of class, instead of politics, race, or generation. And further scrutiny of that picture reveals the very top members of "the club" not wanting to share their wealth, and the growing bottom portion of the 95+% fighting over the shrinking pie.

The last couple of days have seen reports of the sorry state of American's retirement accounts, and that the kids are figuring out they've been fleeced:

https://www.studyfinds.org/third-ame...ement-savings/

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/wa...teid=rss&rss=1

Quote:
Young adults are financially struggling, and already have to make tough choices about what they can spend their money on, said David Yankovich, 31, who had originally retweeted the story saying the piece was condescending and missed other factors at play, such as the state of health care in the U.S. “It’s so hard when you’re in your 20s to even get ahead — by the time you’re in your 30s, you’re not devastatingly broke anymore,” he said. “When you’re that hard-core strapped for money, you’re not thinking of savings, you’re thinking about eating,” he said.
So, let me connect the dots here, in my way of thinking (which may, or may not even be close to what happens, but we'll see):

- pensions will continue to be underfunded, or default
- with declining SS benefits via stagflation, many senior citizens will struggle
- with less opportunity and no chance to outwork a robot, or pay an equivalent amount into "the fund" at $30K per year, SS will eventually blow up
- with options becoming more limited, expect .GOV to repeat their attack on the middle class as they did with the ACA, and freeze 401Ks and IRAs. The younger kids ain't got enough worth stealing, the top .1% are part of the club.
- expect the younger generations, with nothing to lose, to support larger government, more social programs, "free" income, and by proxy, larger and more intrusive government.
- expect the younger generations to continue their trend of a gig economy, working only when necessary and being satisfied with a far lower standard of living then boomers. They know the future will be a good time to have no debt and have no assets.
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Old 05-16-2018, 09:59 PM   #40
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IMO...our kids today are more "stressed" because they are more disillusioned than we were at their age, about how hard life really is. We held part-time jobs during high school, because school loans were hard to come by...whereas our kids today have been spoiled by our preoccupation with not letting them do without the "youth lifestyle" that the media tells them they are entitled to.

Our kids today come out of college thinking that they've accomplished a great deal...without fully realizing that their struggle at this point of life is still at its beginning.
It's a complex issue, with numerous causes and effects. And certainly, when a kid looks at their parent(s) and has been told their whole life that getting a college degree "punches their ticket", their expectations are way out of whack with reality.

Their struggle is now just beginning, but I'm of the opinion it's going to be harder, in some ways much harder, than it was for us. It's not just them adapting to a lower standard of living - humans can do that well, like back in the Great Depression. But there's going to be a lot of social upheaval along the way, and I doubt we'll get through it without some significant violence. Ten or twelve years ago, I thought I was old enough to avoid much of it, being in my mid 50s, but it's coming down the pike faster than I thought.
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Old 05-18-2018, 11:29 PM   #41
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Step 1: Reduce any state pension payment by 75% if mailed out of state, and/or to an in state address not owned and homesteaded by the pension recipient.
Probably unconstitutional.
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Old 05-18-2018, 11:31 PM   #42
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What part of it?
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Old 05-18-2018, 11:34 PM   #43
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Also since some states won't allow pension payouts before 65 (just like SS).
SS starts at 62.
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Old 05-18-2018, 11:42 PM   #44
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What part of it?
The 14th Amendment.
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Old 05-18-2018, 11:59 PM   #45
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We're talking state pensions - fed don't make the rules.
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